I received an email earlier today from The Institute of the Motor Industry, and although I’m not usually prone to this sort of direct action, I would like to share some extracts of it with you.
It reads....

We are going to hit close to 89p a litre by the summer. If we want petrol prices to come down, we need to take some intelligent, united action. Philip Hollsworth, offered this idea....... For the rest of this year, don’t purchase any petrol from the two biggest oil companies (which now are one), ESSO and BP. If they are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. It's easy to make this happen. Just buy your petrol at Shell, Tesco, Sainsburys, Jet etc. i.e. boycott BP and Esso.

If you would like the full version to spam to your address book, send me your email address, and I will forward it to you.
regards for now
dave
- (#7407) dave Bright, 25 Feb 03

Boycott will do nothing, where do you think the smaller outlets get the fuel from in the first place?
Petrol is almost a negative earner, 1 or 2p a litre profit before overheads and tax at a regular roadside station, hence some garages turning into minimarkets.
It's the tax that needs to be attacked a minor rise in crude oil gives a knockon rise in tax, why, should not the tax be set at a constant level, no hit the consumer every which way. Go veggie still taxed but only 26p a litre.

- (#7408) Clive, 26 Feb 03

I would assume that as the smaller outlets have very tight margins, they will purchase fuel from the cheapest source.
Admittedly the tax element is by far the greatest cost of fuel, and there was a reduction in price when the tax was reduced by public demand last year. Since then the price of fuel has continued to rise because the cost of crude oil went up. Now the price of crude is falling, and the price of fuel is still rising. Why?..... We have got used to high fuel prices, and in most cases there’s no credible alternative to our beloved cars.
Perhaps your right, veggie oil may be the way to go. Be careful though, if enough people make the switch, the tax and duty will have to rise, to make up the revenue lost to the government. Not to mention your local chippy inflating his prices due to the increase in demand.
all the best
dave Bright
- (#7409) dave Bright, 26 Feb 03